The gentle warm sea lazily rolls its waves towards the shore. Among the forested rocks that approach the water itself, deer graze all day. They come down here to enjoy the coolness of a light breeze in the thick shade of spreading oaks and pines. The sea splashes at the very feet of the horned beauties, but it is unlikely to attract them. When the time comes to go to a watering hole, deer climb high into the mountains in search of tiny holes with cloudy, not very fresh water, the remnants of fontanelles that dry up completely in the summer.
Not a single deer goes down to the sea to quench its thirst! And not just deer. The winding coastline of continents stretches for thousands of kilometers, surrounded on all sides by oceans. And nowhere is it crossed by animal paths: not a single animal on earth goes down to the sea to quench its thirst.
People who are shipwrecked among the vast expanses of ocean salt water die of thirst. Sea water is unsuitable for drinking; too many salts are dissolved in it, 35 grams per liter, of which 27 are ordinary table salt.
Why can't you drink? sea water?
An adult needs up to 3 liters per day, including, of course, water contained in food. If you drink sea water, about 100 grams of salts will be introduced into your body every day. If they all get bloodied at once, a catastrophe will occur. Usually the blood is freed from excess salts as soon as their amount exceeds the norm. Main job The kidneys clean the blood. During the day, an adult excretes one and a half liters of urine, about half of the water received by the body during the day, while simultaneously freeing itself from sodium, potassium, calcium and other harmful substances. Unfortunately, the concentration of these salts in ocean water is much higher than in urine. Therefore, to remove salts from the body from sea water, it would take much more water what it was drunk with.
How do they live? sea fish and animals? Where do they find fresh water?
It turns out they find it. The blood and tissue fluids of fish and other vertebrates contain very little salt. Therefore, all marine predators receive, along with food, significant amount completely drinkable water. These liquids are quite suitable for humans, which was first noticed by the French doctor A. Bombard.
Every year, thousands of people who are shipwrecked die from hunger and thirst. Bombar conducted a bold experiment to prove: everything necessary for human life is in the ocean, and shipwrecked people can remain alive if they can take advantage of its gifts. To do this, he set out across the Atlantic Ocean in a small rubber boat, feeding on caught fish and small invertebrate animals along the way, and instead of water he drank liquid squeezed out of the bodies of fish. He managed to cross the ocean in 65 days, making his way from Europe to America. And although this method of eating significantly undermined the scientist’s health, it proved the possibility of human life in the ocean.
The question inevitably arises: where do sea fish get their fresh water? It turns out that they have a wonderful desalination apparatus. These are not kidneys. In fish, the kidneys are small, poorly developed and take almost no part in removing salts from the body. The desalination device is located in the gills. Special cells capture salts from the blood and, together with mucus, excrete them in a highly concentrated form.
It is not easy for seabirds to obtain fresh water. Petrels and albatrosses live in the open ocean, far from the coast. On land they appear once a year, only to hatch chicks. Cormorants, guillemots, and many gulls, although they live in coastal zone, never drink fresh water. Previously it was thought that they were content with the tissue fluid of their victims. But it turns out that they willingly drink sea water, and many cannot even do without it. It has long been noted in zoological gardens that these birds do not live in captivity. Zoologists were amazed: gentle, tiny hummingbirds tolerate captivity; parrots, ostriches, eagles and owls live well in cages, but seagulls quickly die. They decided that the sea beauties, in their cramped cages, missed the open spaces of the ocean. But it was not the longing for the sea, nor the cramped cages that turned out to be the reason for the death of the birds. The birds simply did not have enough salts. When they began to add salt to their food, the seagulls became cheerful and lived excellently.
Seabirds and reptiles have wonderful desalinators. For them it is also not the kidneys, but the nasal gland, or, as it is now called, the saline gland. In birds, it is located along the upper edge of the orbit, and its excretory duct opens into the nasal cavity. The concentration of sodium in the fluid secreted by the gland is five times higher than in the blood and two to three times higher than in ocean water. Liquid flows from the nasal openings and hangs on the tip of the beak in the form of large transparent drops, which the bird shakes off from time to time. If a seabird is fed very salty food, within 10-12 minutes its nose will begin to drip. It looks like she has a bad runny nose.
In marine reptiles: turtles, snakes, lizards, the excretory duct of the salt gland, unlike birds, opens into the corner of the eye, and the secretion flows out. For a long time people have already noticed that crocodiles can cry with large transparent tears. Having eaten the next victim, the crocodile allegedly mourns her. This is where it came from popular expression"crocodile tears" as a symbol of the highest hypocrisy. And only today their reason has become clear: this is how the crocodile’s body is freed from excess salts received with water and food.
Sea turtles roam throughout the year warm seas and the oceans. Only once a year, on a dark night, at the appointed time, females come out to sandy beaches to bury a bunch of eggs laid right there in a secluded place. Returning back to the sea, the turtles cry bitterly, dropping large salty tears onto the dry sand. Are they sad, parting with their native places, where they themselves once hatched from eggs? Do they mourn the offspring abandoned to the mercy of fate? Of course not. It's just that their salt glands are busy with their regular work- removal of salts from the body. This is a normal state for them. Sea turtles are the biggest crybabies on our planet, but can you really notice tears in the water? That is why people discovered the secret of the salt gland so late,
I've been doing a lot of biology posts lately.
And all because, thanks to my son, the apartment is becoming more and more densely populated with living beings.
Each of them has its own character and behaves accordingly.
And at the same time I have the feeling that a dense living ring is shrinking around me.
But on the other hand, what can you do, since the child has such a passion...
I come home from work the other day.
I discover that a new tenant has moved into the balcony.
Slug.
I touch it with my finger, experiencing mixed feelings - it is wet, rough and soft.
A little disgusting.
And the child is delighted.
It turns out that the slug has already been to school, where he enjoyed incredible success with all 3 "A".
Thanks to him, the attention of all the girls in the class was riveted to his son.
They pointed their fingers at him together and were happy.
In the evening we discuss with the child whether the slug will die on the balcony, we decide that it will die and we should release it.
Only the next day the slug... disappears.
Having examined the balcony, we understand that the slug could leave the room in only one way: crawl out through the open sash.
He certainly didn't have wings.
“He probably crawled towards the ground,” I say.
“It will take him a long time to descend from the 25th floor,” the son notes...
On the way from the balcony we come across a turtle. She proudly walks into the bedroom on her favorite place under the radiator, clinging to the soft carpet with its claws.
Actually, she is aquatic and lives in an aquarium.
But recently he has been walking around the apartment every evening.
Because she fought for her rights and achieved improved conditions of detention.
And she did it in the usual feminine way.
Julia, Putya is crying, our nanny once wrote to me at work.
- You mean crying? - I did not understand.
- In direct. She sits on the island, all dried up and her eyes wet. Therefore, it is understandable that he is crying. “I read it on the Internet - these turtles can cry,” the nanny added.
And then further - more, and Putya began to be thrown out of the aquarium.
When she first jumped out of it at night, I thought that thieves had broken into the apartment and dropped the wardrobe.
For everything shook.
I found Putya on the floor, clearly shocked by my own courage.
She picked it up, looked at it, and lowered it into the water.
It was surprising that she was intact.
Since then, Putya has done such somersaults more than once, risking her shell.
We began placing a sports mat under the aquarium so that in case of emergency it would absorb a fall and save the animal from injury.
After these stories, Putya received the right to walk in the evenings.
In addition, instead of the usual dry gammarus food, she began to receive fresh poultry and fish (“Yulia, how did she live so long on dry food, it doesn’t contain any vitamins”?).
Well, the nanny talks to her.
Putya lands on the island to chat, stands on his hind legs (yes, yes!) and interestedly pulls his head towards the interlocutor.
“Who is the most beautiful here?” - asks the nanny, and you can see how the turtle grows wings behind its back from such compliments, and it flies up a little.
In general, we can say that Putya is a great guy. Otherwise, I could have sat behind glass all my life with wet eyes, watching someone else’s life.
And now he is taking full part in it...
There are also worms living on the balcony.
Yesterday it was stormy, and my son brought them home to keep them warm.
I fed him with sleeping tea leaves.
I barely persuaded him not to put them on dinner table along with the earth...
....................................................
That day we had dinner, listened to the rain and howling wind, and wondered if we would be blown away like Ellie's house from The Wizard of Oz.
And they imagined how a courageous slug, obeying instinct, makes its way to the ground along a steep concrete wall, at the risk of falling off and breaking. Just like a mountain climber. It’s still interesting, purely mathematically, how long it takes a slug to descend from a 25-story building? Per day? For two? During the week?
And then, already falling asleep, I was wondering how much was left before I bought the formicarium, and my thoughts were already confused, and for some reason I imagined the epilogue of “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, where the ants were so huge that they dragged away the child, and all this happened right before the hurricane that destroyed Macondo. These huge ants intertwined in my mind with quotes from the Civil Code and the circumstances of tomorrow's court cases, and it was a little scary.
Lord, if only the fish didn’t cry yet, I thought worriedly before falling asleep...
And in the morning, when my mind became clearer, I came up with the idea that since they all live here, I can observe them and draw conclusions.
Because they are not just close to nature.
They are nature itself.
And if you think about it this way, then perhaps you can learn from a slug to follow your instincts, and from a turtle - a reckless struggle for life...
And worms... I thought for a long time about what I could learn from worms.
After all, at first glance, they are completely useless and uninteresting creatures.
And then, watching how my son took care of them, I finally understood what I could learn from them, and made an absolutely philosophical conclusion.
You can learn acceptance from worms. The fact that for someone you can be necessary, important and attractive, even if you are not something special, but just a worm.
Amaryllis family. Homeland - South Africa. There are about 100 species in nature. Krinum is chic flowering plant more suitable for growing in greenhouses and winter gardens than in apartments. Not only because the plants reach enormous sizes, but the main reason is the need for cold wintering. They usually bloom in July - September. Crinum does not lose leaves during the dormant period and does not tolerate leaf pruning.
Crinum MooreCrinum moorei- perennial bulbous plant. The bulb is about 15 cm in diameter, spherical in shape, half immersed in the substrate. The leaves are belt-shaped, light green in color, with a closed sheath forming a false stem. Leaves are about 70 cm long. Peduncle up to 50 cm long, umbrella-shaped inflorescence of 6-12 flowers. The perianths are bell-shaped, with petals pointed at the end, about 8 cm in diameter, pink or white.
Crinum PowellCrinum powellii- perennial bulbous plant. The bulb is about 20 cm in diameter, spherical in shape, half immersed in the substrate. The leaves are belt-shaped, light green in color, up to 1 m long, with a closed sheath, forming a rosette. Peduncle up to 1 m long, umbrella-shaped inflorescence of 6-12 flowers. The perianths are bell-shaped, with petals pointed at the end, up to 15 cm in diameter, bright pink, red and white.
CARE TIPS
Temperature: During the growing season, the optimal temperature is 17-20°C. During the dormant period, keep it dry at 8-10°C.
Lighting: Bright diffused light. Shade from direct sunlight.
Watering: Abundant during flowering - the soil should be moist all the time. However, avoid waterlogging; crinum, like all amaryllis, is sensitive to excess moisture. During the dormant period, watering is practically stopped, or rather, watered very rarely, so that the fleshy roots do not dry out completely.
Fertilizer: Once every two weeks liquid fertilizer for flowering indoor plants, diluted in the concentration recommended by the manufacturer. Feeding begins as soon as young leaves appear and ends when the last flowers wither.
Air humidity: In summer, the leaves are periodically sprayed and wiped with a damp sponge.
Transfer: About once every 3-4 years, during the dormant period. The soil is made up of 2 parts clay-turf, 1 part leaf soil, 1 part humus, 1 part peat and 1 part sand. Add pieces of birch coal to the soil. The largest container for planting is chosen; for adult plants these are usually tubs.
Reproduction: Daughter bulbs in summer. When separating the bulbs, be careful not to damage the roots. The sections are treated with crushed coal. Young plants bloom only after 3-4 years.
Details Directory Folios
By purchasing tours from Donetsk http://www.vikatour.com.ua/ to Egypt, you will learn a lot of new things from the life of the people and animals there. Find out, for example, why turtles cry.
And turtles have very good reasons for crying: no other animal has to endure so much torment. True, in relation to one turtle, the carriage, the previous phrase could be written in the past tense. Chemistry saved her from her pain. This is not an exaggeration or a joke. Here are the facts. Previously, combs, cigarette cases and trinkets were made from shell sea turtle. And for every trinket, the carriage, or, as it is also called, the bissa, paid with torture. The stratum corneum covering its bony shell is difficult to separate with a chisel or chisel. But it is easy to get the horn plates if you scald the turtle with boiling water. The plates fall off the shell under the influence of melted turtle fat. In this case, the turtle was hung over the fire and roasted until everything that was possible was torn off from it. Unfortunately, turtles are unusually hardy - they did not die
from such torment. They were put back into the sea, and the stratum corneum on the shell was largely restored. Sometimes the same individual had to endure several tortures.
Thanks to chemistry, now scallops are made of plastic, and turtles don’t have to shed tears over a fire. But green turtles, from which the most delicious turtle soup is prepared, are tortured, almost as before. In the markets of tropical countries, sellers do not kill a huge turtle, but tear off part of its shell and cut off from the living body the piece that the buyer points to. Gourmets see the naked heart beating - it is the last to be sold. If there are few buyers, then the heart beats for several days.
So maybe turtle mothers, laying eggs once a year, shed large tears on the sand because they feel sorry for their children, for whom fate has prepared so many horrors? It’s unlikely, they’ve now found out for certain that turtles cry all year round. And hard times for little turtles begin much earlier than they attract the attention of the two-legged ruler of the planet. Even in their infancy, turtles are killed by cats, raccoons, dogs and pigs. They dig up and eat the eggs. And nine out of ten newborn reptiles will be killed by birds, fish and crabs.
In order to cry, you need to have strength, you need to eat and drink properly. At least this is the case with turtles. Moreover, after drinking sea water, they cannot help but cry. Nature has bypassed turtles in many ways; it did not give them sweat glands. But evolution has packed turtles in monolithic armor, and not in some kind of colander, and instead of holes in the skin, it has endowed them with a special salt gland, which removes excess salts from the body’s tissues. The excretory duct of this gland is located in the corner of the turtle's eyes. So turtles cry not out of resentment at their fate, but for the most prosaic reason - they sweat with their eyes.
S. STARIKOVICH